To those of you who do, enjoy your holiday! For everyone else, hope you enjoy this!


The breath of fresh air was like finally stepping out of an exam. Your brain turned back on, you could remember an answer you couldn't ten minutes ago, and they finally weren't surrounded by walls! There were no buildings, no castle, for once the lack of human civilization felt right...then Remus really looked around and saw where they were, and had to fight back the urge to scream.

The dark trees towered over them all, some pressed so close together it was as if they were hugging, others spaced almost evenly, as if someone at some time had actually intended to plant them. There were all different species as well, weather of magical properties or simply the transitions of very many years introducing new to this Forbidden Forest. The Marauders knew them all, not particularly by name, but of what could be inside them. They each could have taken a quick look around and pointed which direction Hogwarts was, how to navigate to a manticore den if one were suicidal enough, contact the centaurs or even go chasing after some spiders. They also knew what else would soon be in this forest, that only appeared once a month.

Remus had been feeling sick since this all took off, and not for the same reasons as the others. After he'd told his friends about his secret, they soon didn't even have to ask when the full moon even was, they could keep track of it themselves. Not by looking to the stars, but the werewolf himself. His body, so physically tied to the endless cycle, seemed conditioned itself to run in phases. When a new moon, Moony was at the peak of health, as bright eyed and laughing along with anyone. The heavier the orb became, the heavier his eyes grew, the paler his skin got, as if the curse itself were to match.

Ignorant as they'd been of the true meaning of time in all of this, they'd all kept a careful eye on him through every time jump, and none really liked what they saw. That last potions class, the last clear marker of anything they had, meant only four days tell a full moon again. Remus had been so quiet and withdrawn it could have been that night. Through several bunts across this universe though, they'd gotten so lost and muddled it was impossible to keep track of anything, let alone something so far above they couldn't even see.

Now all four looked up, but the thicket of branches was as revealing as a ceiling, and their friends luminescent pallor could still mean anything.

Then Lily did scream.

At first she'd simply thought it was a pile of snow. That was wrong though, there was a slight chilly breeze creeping through, but it had the taste of spring tease, not nearly cold enough for a whole mound of undisturbed pile so breathtakingly unpigmented.

The tangled legs, silky mane, and spiral horn had formed next. She'd started forward in concern, her mind offering up a foal sleeping. The deep silver of blood dripping still warm from its neck was the last click.

To the others credit, no one ran. They all had wands out at once and tried to draw closer to each other even in this circle of mistrust, but as one by one they all saw the same, a deadly silence fell as surely as this mythical creature.

Potter spoke first, inching towards her and hissing, "Evans, get away!"

It was true she had seemed to land nearest the mare, she could have reached out and touched the alabaster hindquarters.

"And go where," Regulus uneasily demanded.

Pettigrew shot a glance at him, and immediately turned on the spot and tried to shoot some purple jet of light into the darkness. It, like every spell before, simply vanished with no visible trace of ever being there, but the moment he stepped in the same direction, there again was an invisible barrier blocking them from stepping out of this clearing.

"Okay, well, at least whatever did it isn't in here with us," Frank offered, straightening from a defensive position near Alice and doing a quick 360 to confirm there was nothing lurking nearby. Shadows were aplenty, but certainly whatever had done this would have attacked at their arrival...right?

"Lily, come on, please get away from it," Potter insisted, the genuine fear still there finally sinking through her shock. Carefully, still on hands and knees like she'd landed, she backed away as far as she could, unintentionally putting herself right beside Potter as she stood, the book in her hand though none had seen it before.

"It was right by her heart," she muttered, running her hand uneasily over the cover and looking up at him. Then just as quickly, she turned and walked away, over to Alice and Frank, flipping through pages for her place and reading the chapter title without surprise, she'd figured that out all on her own.

James watched her go before turning eyes back on the unicorn. They didn't see many running through the Forest, though they weren't shy creatures, as they had no natural predators. One had even come across Moony, but though he'd stared it down, he'd instead continued right back to putting his nose to the ground after some griffins nest still five miles out.

Regulus spoke what all of them still couldn't get past, "what could have done this?"

Even those who hadn't taken Care of Magical Creatures knew a thing or two about this beast, for Professor Slughorn stressed when using their hairs or horn shavings in potions classes how valuable they were, and the only part they'd use in class. Even Professor Flitwick had once treated them to a lecture when one student asked about the wand core. Everybody said the same thing. They were a purely good and innocent life, and to slay one for any reason was a curse. To continue the act, to drink the blood as something had clearly done...it was unheard of.

For the first time, none of them had really stopped to consider the fact that though all people had vanished during their time of this, what about other things? If the unicorns body could still be here, than very likely what had done this could be as well.

With that lovely thought in mind, Lily read with more unease than she ever thought a book could do, about Harry getting something silly like a detention. The Marauders at least were momentarily distracted from everything by wondering just what Harry had done with their cloak, surely the boy wouldn't leave it up on the tower forever!

They did feel for Harry of course, and even more for Neville when he got dragged into all this for doing the right thing. McGonagall's punishment was admittedly ridiculous, but now that the others were distracted but the Marauders could just shrug off something so silly like losing house points, they kept on track with their friend who may be facing a very real problem soon.

Throughout all of these time jumps, any one of them could have been during a full moon, and none of them could do a thing about it. Knock out the other four so they didn't realize what, or who, was happening and transform? Protecting all of them while in some enclosed space!

This was so far the only solution James had thought up, and Remus hadn't a chance to tear it down then in their common room, but he did now where hopefully the wind snatched away their words better than the Quidditch team acting a prat to Harry.

"This just isn't safe! I nearly killed someone last time, I won't let it ever get that close again!"

"That was my fault," Sirius hatefully pointed out, tense and looking nearly as sick as Remus at the reminder, but he had to make this clear. "You're right Moony, it won't ever go that far again because we'll make sure it won't, none of this is on you!"

"What do you want us to do anyways?" Peter demanded with a little huff, he couldn't be on look out forever, he'd already seen Frank grow suspicious of them at least once. "You keep griping about this, but I don't hear you coming up with any ideas." Then, at a much more conversational tone of voice, "Glory, Harry would be the one to come across Quirrell at a time like that."

The others had to quickly play catch up to what they'd been listening to in the background, but clearly no one else noticed, so their inane chatter to each other about all Harry's varying luck was given no more thought than the whispered conversation.

"Wait, what's Harry doing out on the grounds for his detention?" James did turn and look at Evans fully again, glancing to Peter and really feeling like he'd missed something, but the other shrugged with no more clue than Filch was giving.

Then Remus slumped to the ground, looking utterly exhausted and likely to faint any moment as it seemed his own worst fear was going to play out in Harry's time at the exact moment it was here.

They were all admittedly thunderstruck at such a punishment, but the fact that it was taking place with Hagrid made them think that somehow the gamekeeper had pulled this off himself. Likely feeling bad for getting the kids into this, in his warped mind he probably thought he was giving them a treat.

Alice just snickered at the young Malfoy, and how Filch was no help at all. "Honestly, any decent teacher would have just told what you should do when facing a werewolf, not him though."

"Wouldn't be Filch if he didn't traumatize one kid a year," Frank agreed.

Remus tried to keep breathing evenly that they were just blowing this off, that surely the teachers wouldn't have them out there during a full moon...but there was no longer a werewolf on those grounds even trapped safely away, so what if they didn't care about such things anymore? Filch nor Hagrid were denying a full moon tonight!

News of the unicorn brought them up short at least, all eyes turning back to the very same.

"Please," Potter begged, "someone tell me that we're just getting an unpleasant first hand look at this thing! Let the record be broken that we aren't where Harry likely will wind up!" His voice was near screaming at the end, and Sirius shifted uneasily from rubbing Moony's shoulder to patting James, now both looked likely to vomit.

"See, he's going in with Hagrid," Peter tried his best to keep looking on the bright side of this. "Nothing in this forest is going to mess with him!"

"Nothing in the forest now," Remus said hoarsely, the others were just pleased he was still bothering to make conversation. "Twenty years from now? Clearly something got in."

"Do we need to separate you two next?" Sirius snapped.

"Yes please," Remus bitterly grumbled, glancing again at the heavens like he hoped they'd swallow him up.

"Moony, listen," Sirius crouched down beside him, James and Peter striking up a loud conversation about what they hoped ate Malfoy as a distraction. "Nothing's going to happen, alright! Time's been a bit screwy around here lately, I know, but that has to mean it's also working on our side! No full moon," he finished, practically breathing in his ear by the end, "and Merlin help it if there is one, we won't let you hurt anyone, not even yourself, just like always."

Remus turned to face him, and in the practically non-existent lighting all he could really do was trace his face. Their noses were inches apart, and that electricity seemed to snap between the two again. Remus couldn't help it, he believed him. He could still vividly recall that look of shock, the horror only just setting in as James told him what had happened, and then Sirius had gone all defensive and tried to play it off like another joke. This time his expression remained open and sincere, which was all Remus had wanted to see the past month. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed right then not to kiss him, his hand twitched involuntarily anyways and brushed against Sirius fingers.

Padfoot just smiled and let them stay overlapped like that, it was dark enough nobody would notice.

James paused in describing the details of bowtruckle eye removal as he glanced between the two, certainly sensing something, but he was just so happy they were even speaking to each other again he didn't press them for whatever that was.

Of course Malfoy ruined the whole thing, all of them jumping in shock at the red sparks and wanting to pull that blond head off for doing that to Neville at a time like this. Maybe it was just because they saw the danger right in front of them, but it felt even more suicidal than facing down that troll for Harry to be going off alone now!

Sirius would even take Norbert back! This was something that could actually kill the kid, again!

Indeed that seemed exactly what was about to happen! Whatever monstrosity that was drinking unicorn blood and then turning its attention on that little boy was as good as dead if the centaur hadn't arrived.

Lily couldn't help but sink to the leafy ground herself as, whatever that thing could be was run off. For the first time, she'd really felt invested in that danger, had wanted to shield and protect Harry from this! All of the other situations he'd either gotten himself into or she hadn't believed a danger was there, she'd either just seen Potter in her mind being an idiot or trusted Sev wouldn't let anything happen. Now though, that little boy was just doing a detention for the school, one he'd gotten while helping a friend, and this was by far the most heart stopping thing to become of that!

The night just couldn't end there. They got more information from Firenze than anything else so far, none of it at all pleasant, and all putting a much larger scope on this problem.

Regulus hadn't even been sure how he'd felt about the demise of the Dark Lord because of this Boy Who Lived. He'd spent his whole life up until now wanting nothing more than to join the prospering future of the Death Eaters, but in fact the world seemed to have gone on without the Dark Lord. Now though, from the word of a centaur, there was absolute proof this was no glory for money as they'd all believed before. Now it made sense why Dumbledore wanted that Stone right under his nose.

The Dark Lord was trying to come back, and he seemed determined to kill Harry to do it.

Lily nearly pissed herself all through the conversation of Harry catching up his two friends on all of this. She'd barely given herself a moment to even admit how invested in this story she'd slowly been before it was all slammed down on her with pure adrenaline. A world without You-Know-Who was so far just a fairy-tale in this future, now just as quickly it was all about to be stripped away? She had no clue how Harry was being so calm about this!

The end note still managed to hold its own surprise, though at least it was a decent one. Getting his cloak back could only be a good thing, right?